Attaining Immortality II: The Hero In Prehistoric Art

                                         Warrior posing with archery equipment Tassili N' Ajer, Algeria

It has been traditionally believed that recorded history began with the first civilizations. Sumer, located in what is today Iraq, is considered the first of the great ancient civilizations. Historical research has explored the possibility of even older civilizations, with much of the inspiration coming from the myths and legends that were recounted and maintained by such well documented civilizations as Sumer and Egypt. Archeology is revealing new data regularly. The legends of Atlantis and Lemuria entice historians and inquisitive archeologists alike, spurred on as they were after Schliemann discovered the ruins of Troy and Mycenae, or when the ruins of ancient Anau in Turkestan were uncovered in the late 19th century. Native American mounds in North America have been found to mark the sites of sophisticated settlements unknown and unheard of before. We know of the already documented civilizations, but what of those that existed according to the legends of these civilizations? Every ancient civilization included as part of its literature myths and stories of older cities and cultures. In every myth we might find an element of truth. 

                             Battle scene depicting mounted warriors, Bhimbetka India circa 10,000 BC

Human beings have been expressing themselves through art and storytelling for many millennia prior to the rise of the great, historical civilizations. In the caves of Lascaux in modern day France or at Altamira in Spain, or in the middle of the Sahara desert at Tassili N'Ajer in Algeria, cave art and petroglyphs depict the lives, occupations, beliefs and and events of the inhabitants of long ago, advising us of what they held as important. We don't know who the individuals were or their gender. One such drawing from Algeria (above) of an archer with a fine physique posing with a bow and quiver of projectiles seems remarkably feminine. In the battle scenes from Bhimbetka, India we note warriors mounted upon horses. Art was believed to have been associated with primitive spirituality, especially in the case of such art in caves, for Mankind sought aloneness in subterranean caverns which would inspire later generations to create temples, cathedrals and mosques. The inner Earth represented the womb from where all life issues, and returning to that lair is to return to the source of our existence. Art created in those lairs thus held a sacred place in the hearts of those who descended into such a spiritual place. All that was considered important and pertinent to prehistoric life was depicted on the wall of these caverns, which was represented by nature. It should come as no surprise that herding or the hunting of animals, a primary source of food, clothing and shelter, would be so prominent in such paintings. Survival was the norm for hunter gatherer societies. Animals and their attributes we seen as holy, imbuing the wearer of an amulet fashioned from one of these beasts with power. To attain that amulet, a symbol of the animal's power and the embodiment of its virtues and qualities, one had to go out and hunt that beast. Tribes would organize hunting parties and seek out herds of animals for the eventual kill. Upon their return to the settlement with their catch and trophies, they were greeted as heroes, for their efforts staved off starvation and ensured another period of survival. 

Hunting an animal was not an easy task, as the animal might have to be tracked over rigorous terrain for days on end. Cornering a bear, lion or wooly mammoth usually resulted in a fight to the death, the animal defending itself fiercely. More often than not some members of the hunting party, lacking sophisticated weaponry and technology using but primitive spears, clubs or the bow and arrow were injured or killed in the attempt to slay the beast. Survival in prehistory was a war with nature itself. No wonder these people of the past depicted the hunt as if it were a battle, for great stealth, effort, tact and strength was necessary and required in this dangerous endeavor. Honest to a flaw, these prehistoric artists depicted not only the victory of man over beast but also honored brave souls who may have been gored by a bull or mauled by wolves or a wild cat, depicting and thus honoring them in the glory and silence of death. These images of the deceased have remained anonymous to us for all these millennia but the image painted on the wall of some cave remains a token of this brave person's memory that was meant to live on forever. 

                                                               Hunters, Tassili N'Ajer, Algeria

Cave of the deceased hunter, Lascaux  17,000-15,000 BC 

Groups of people created clans and tribes. If and when food sources became scarce for whatever reason such as drought or disease, these tribes would make war upon one another. We are mistaken to believe that war is a product of civilization, but rather it is seemingly endemic to human kind. The reproduction of humanity, encouraged by the high mortality rate of prehistoric life resulted in more mouths to feed, and more members of a tribe meant that it would grow and become stronger, thus more effective at the hunt and in waging warfare against competing tribes who laid claim to fishing and hunting areas and, with the beginnings of animal husbandry, grazing land. Procuring food for survival was on par in importance with procuring security for the tribe and the clan. These are the foundations of the city state or the kingdom. The images of people engaged in battle, or tribe members armed with weapons became a style and a genre unto itself, thus giving birth to heroic art. In this art we get an idea of how these primitive peoples waged war with one another. 

       Does the appearance of animals imply a battle unfolding over grazing land? 

     Warriors armed with axes, boats in the background, possibly depicting a maritime attack

We also know that the depiction  of war was an honored tradition, as was the creating of the hero-champion. The exploits of this hero-champion would be recounted at the central fire where the members of the clan would gather to hear their stories, sing songs and dance in their honor and please the deities of the sky and Earth with supplication and praise. Individuals, their names lost to history, nonetheless are depicted with an accent on the muscular, perfected human form brandishing their weapons sometimes standing among their peers in what would later develop into the statuary of the Assyrian kings or the pharaohs of Egypt, the sculptures of the gods that would adorn the temples of India or the realistic reproduction of heroes and deities in the art of Greece and Rome. All the elements and aspects of heroism and action that we witness in classical ancient or later medieval heroic or epic art can be found among the cave paintings and petroglyphs of the prehistoric world. Thus it might be said that we are not so different from our ancestors, perhaps only advanced in technology. Yes, we have developed certain understandings about morality and ethics and most of us hope we can one day rid ourselves of war. But on the other hand, what if this is who and what we are? Whenever a danger presents itself to any society, the image of the hero is conjured, sought and replicated so as to reassure the inhabitants of a nation, like the image of the champion was sought to reassure the tribe in  times of danger and stress. Though we might live more comfortably and securely today, the art of the hero and the image of war still fascinates us as it did in the times when our ancestors dwelled in a more insecure era. The question remains as to whether we as a race and a species are naturally prone to make war and accept it as the norm. Perhaps as long as mankind perceives war as a necessity, we will continue to create art that reflects this reality. 

Tadraut Acaceus Cave Painting    Libya  12,000 BC

Copyright Ismail Butera, 2023